Saturday, August 18, 2012

This Week's Blog Post

I
actually made something for myself! These black beads are carved from the buri
nut which is native to the Philippines.

Between them I used dark grey hemalyke
beads. This is going to be a great staple piece in my wardrobe so I look forward
to wearing it many, many times!

Portsmouth

Jim
and I stayed a couple of nights in our favorite local spot, Portsmouth, New
Hampshire. It was our second annual weekend trip there!

This New England gem
has great eateries, scenery on the Atlantic Ocean, gardens, theater, art,
historical buildings and so much more! Many of the eateries are in old
structures that have been renovated. This year was tricky since I realized I can not eat gluten and of course I am a vegetarian. Luckily Portsmouth is well aware of the gluten free population!

This
self portrait was taken at the Common Man which is a restaurant with multiple locations
in New Hampshire. If you ever visit NH, it is definitely worth looking up the
closest location! Its menu includes homecooked style comfort food like mac and
cheese and pot roast. For me they have a quinoa and roasted veggie dish which
is delicious!

We
wanted to check out this newer restaurant called Mombo. It is a more upscale
dining but we just went in for a glass of wine and cheese plate.

It is located
at Strawberry Banke which was a thriving area dating back to the 1600s. Here
homes have been preserved and guests can tour the area with live actors
reenacting life in the old days!

The restaurant décor is beautiful with that
old American feel.

We
also visited Agave Mexican Bistro which has 1 location in Massachusetts and 1
location in New Hampshire.

Both locations have elegant dining and bar areas but
reasonably priced.

Annabelle’s Ice Cream was another great stop we made in the middle of a hot day for some
homemade frozen yogurt.

It has a feel like it has been around for many, many
decades but actually opened in 1982!

We
saw some cool sculptures. These metal pieces are by artist Rick Burns who
received honorable mention by the NH Art Association. This is Emaciated Farmer.

This
is 21st Century Sisyphus.

This
cool rock has random animals carved all around it that appear to be behind
windows.

These
beautiful hands were in the yard of a temple.

Here
I am with a lion. This was outside of an old building that has been converted
into upscale condos.

We
passed this sweet polka dotted feather on the sidewalk.

Many
benches in the park have chess boards on them! There is probably some
historical reference to this since one of the buildings downtown has the old
ink reading “chess club” on it.

I
have been seeing flower walls lately on Pinterest so it was really cool to see
this one in person. This gardener used bags to house each plant.

I
took a ridiculous amount of pictures so next week I will follow up with some
great old architecture and stunning flowers!

Thank you for stopping by! If you ever have the opportunity to visit Portstmouth, NH someday you will not be disappointed!!! Have a wonderful week. ~Val

Love your new necklace! You're right that it will make a great staple piece!What a fun weekend! Love the self-portrait shot :) And the carved rock is so cool as well as the fun polka dot feather you found :)

I love the necklace you made for yourself! Very classy ;o) What is your pet Lion's name? LOL! That feather is gorgeous! I wonder what bird that came from? Did you keep the feather? I would have ;o) I think I would really enjoy Portsmouth NH! Take Care ;o)

The polka dots looked so funny to me I just had to whip out the camera! Jim yelled at me (in a fun way) when I picked up a feather once. Apparently they are full of nastiness. LOL. So no I did not keep this one.

Val - great necklace! I do the same ... I sell or give away most of what I make ... rarely keeping something for myself. So yeah! good for you - for keeping something! I really like it too. What a wonderful piece that will match so many things in the closet.

Wonderful pics of NH, and those places look great. I've been wanting to get up to NH, but haven't had the chance. Will have to write these down - thanks!

With a name like Agave they must have good tequila. Looks like a lovely place to visit (My hubby and I are always trying to locate nifty vegetarian friendly areas). I agree with the others…that necklace looks beautiful and will go with so many different outfits!

It's so nice and satisfying to make something for yourself once in a while, isn't it? The city you visited looks lovely! My hubby also recently found out he can't have anything with gluten in it, but over here the restaurants rarely cater to things like that, so on our vacation we were so surprised to actually find a restaurant that had a whole gluten and lactose free menu!!

Where to Find Me:

Blogger of random stuff. Lover of laughter. A person with a bucket list. A vegetarian. Someone trying to live green. An appreciator of creativity. A workaholic business owner. Beginner gardener. Wine Drinker. Experimenter in the kitchen. Enthusiast of the simple pleasures in life.